[4][5] In 1819, the English botanist James Edward Smith provided the first valid combination for Dipodium squamatum in Rees's Cyclopædia.

[6][7] The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families records Dipodium punctatum as a synonym of this species.

[12] The elder Forster was the naturalist on James Cook's second expedition to the Pacific, and 19-year-old Georg was his assistant.

[13] Other early collections included that of Eugène Vieillard from arid coastal areas at Balade in New Caledonia and by Scottish botanists John MacGillivray and William Grant Milne from the island of Aneityum, part of current day Vanuatu .

[14] According to the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, the distribution of this species includes New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Australia.